Introduction

Anivia has many strengths and weaknesses, this guide will teach you how to enhance her strengths and reduce her weaknesses. It's also my first guide, and I was inspired to write it due to the small amount of Anivia players despite how good of a caster she is. This guide will focus on how I play Anivia. The best part about her is there are many ways to build her, and almost every build will work well. Don't limit yourself to my builds and idea's, instead develop your own tactics from them.

Why read my guide though? I understand there are alot of variables in the game, you can't do the same exact thing every game and get the same results every time. Another reason is that I keep up with patches and constantly update my guide. I may not play Anivia as much as I used to, but I can guarantee you that you will learn a lot from this guide. It's a long guide, but I assure you it's full of delicious details.

Cons -Early game farm can be difficult -Low health and attack early game -Main support skill has long cooldown -Mana is a big problem most the game -Slow movement speed -Can easily be targetted by teleporting champs -Very slow skill shot -HARD TO MASTER, REQUIRES A LOT OF PRACTICE AND PATIENCE

Abilities

When you die while this is off cooldown, you will revert into an egg and regain all your health back. After 6 seconds you will turn back into a bird (provided they don't kill you) and you continue off at whatever HP you had when you were the egg. VERY USEFUL, but don't get too carried away. You cannot move when you're an egg, and if not protected it is very easy to die. Early game this thing has saved me many times, and it is one of the reasons why I don't start off with a first. Its not only for a strong early game though, it deters enemies from targeting you (if you have other reliable forms of damage on your team)

The first spell I get and the first spell I max. Its a stun, its got damage, its got range, and when used properly, this is your best friend early game. It is amazing harassment, but it is definitely not spammable and requires a lot of practice with it to hit almost every time.

-How to use this skill properly Anivia players overlook this skills potential for damage quite often. Not only is there damage when the sphere goes through your enemies but it also does damage when you press Q again causing it to explode (that's the stun part of it btw) If you want to maximize damage from this skill, shoot it so it passes through your opponent. As it passes through your opponent it should deal damage. When you see that they have taken damage from the sphere passing through them, immediately press Q again to cause it to detonate next to him. Timing it is necessary for the maximum damage output, and when this skill is maxed it is very good damage combined with a stun. It takes some practice but after awhile you won't even think about it. Another thing people overlook is the skills farming potential. When you have / don't be afraid to burn mana to kill caster minions in the back, especially if you're in the 2v1 lane.

-Example When the sphere passes through an enemy it will apply 180(+0.5 per AP) damage. If you detonate it while next to the champion it just passed through, it will not only stun that champion but also apply another 180 (+0.5 per AP) in damage. That's 360 damage (+1 per AP) right there. And with cooldown runes, its gonna be a roughly 9 second cooldown. Excellent damage / range for such a small cooldown.

(If you still don't understand what I am trying to say Email me. I may create a video showing you what I mean, but only if this is not understandable to some readers)

Pretty much my favorite skill as Anivia, even though I max it last. It allows you to separate teams during a teamfight and usually leads to the death of most their team. Its also great for escaping from enemies, blocking escaping enemies, or letting allies escape. I max it last because Anivia has amazing damage output and I dislike letting that go to waste. However don't let that fool you, even at rank one you will be using this a lot.

-How to use this skill properly Do your very best to help allies and hurt enemies. Also, don't place the wall ON an escaping foe, there's a very good chance the opponent will appear on the other side of the wall. Try to throw it in front, so they have to go around it. Keep in mind too that Crystallize grants vision to the area around it. If you're afraid you might get ganked throw up a wall in a bush and you will see everything in the bush. Much better than a face check surprise. You can also combine this skill with your Q, place Crystallize next to a wall and throw a Frost at their only way around it. Eventually when you get the feel for this you will know exactly how to use it. Remember practice makes perfect.

Note: Remember that if you use this on top of any champ they will be pushed towards you or away from you depending on how much of their hitbox is on one side. Try not to kill allies or help enemies with this.

Crystallize counts as one giant minion essentially, so ghosting through it is possible. If an enemy hasn't used their summoner spell ghost in awhile then saving the wall for somebody else may be a better option.

End game, this skill is the primary reason as to why you see enemy champs go from full health to no health. When enemy champs are frosted (you see little snowflakes appear below their feet and they move abnormally slow) they take double damage from this. Keep in mind this only applies to slows from your skills. So grabbing this first when laning with an Ashe or Nunu will not work at all. Personally I max this second.

But wait, why not max this first? I dislike maxing this for the fact that its range is terrible. When you start playing Anivia you'll notice 2 things. You're slow, and you have barely any health early on. Getting close to enemies early game or meta game can easily cause your death. Not to mention, I find this skill to be a waste by itself. Its great for last hitting though, or if enemies need only a bit more damage before they die, which is why at least one rank is useful. It is best when paired with your ult.

-How to use this skill properly Early game (10min-) do not even bother with this. It drains mana way too fast for it to be used as often as it can be. The range is also pretty short and puts you in harms way. Late game / Mid game however you will be doing MASSIVE damage with this. Quickly throw down your ult on top of somebody (try to place it so they are in the middle if possible) and then throw a frostbite. Another thing you can do is throw a frostbite and then quickly Glacial storm on your enemy. If you're quick enough by the time the frostbite hits your target he/she will already be frosted. I don't bother doing it this way due to unreliability, but it's always nice to know you can.

One second you're at full mana, the next second you have none, you can thank this skill for that. Its an AoE and the longer they stay in this the more damage they take. Simple right? Well for one this Ult drains mana per second. It can be left down as long as you want it to be (it can be cancelled at any time). And it frosts any enemy champ inside of this, which makes it perfect with frostbite. This Ult does not require any animation either, which makes it perfect for escaping from people because of its slow.

-How to use this skill properly I talk about mostly teamfights here but don't be mistaken, sparing some mana on creep killing is worth it. If there's a creep buildup be sure to throw this down and net yourself about 300 gold in 3 seconds.

In the beginning of a teamfight placing this down in the correct spot is crucial. Not only may it determine the outcome of the teamfight but it may also determine whether or not some people escape. The best area for the storm is in the middle of the fight but also behind it. 75% of the circle being in the fight and 25% being behind you're opponents. This forces most ranged carries to leave the storm but also slows down a tanks retreat. The second you throw this down you should also be throwing Flash frost and Frostbite. If possible, throw down a crystallize as well making it harder for your enemy to escape the storm. Keeping your enemies in Glacial storm is deadly for them and the longer they're in there the better. In situations where you are running it can also be used to slow pursuers considering there is no cast animation.

Keep in mind that any stun/knock up will cancel this. Also note that the cooldown timer starts the second the storm is canceled. If you are against a heavy CC team you may want to invest in a banshees to prevent this from occurring too often. Or just hold onto it until their stuns are spent.

About my Skill Order

Most guides will tell you to get frostbite first. Its high damage output, but as I said its range makes you vulnerable and you can do 2x damage with flash frost as well if you practice with it. Learning how to skillshot perfectly will maximize damage output beyond that of a frostbite build. Use your wall to help lead your enemies into your shots

However, if you're having trouble learning how to properly use Flash frost, you can also use a frostbite build. Or if you just prefer high champion damage over minion kills. Keep in mind my guide is primarily about using Flash frost, so I will never speak of maxing Frostbite first.

If you're in a solo lane vs 2 people then get crystallize second instead. It could save your life.

Masteries (Updated)

New Masteries probably left a lot of people confused... (Including me)...BUT! I have figured out some really good builds with them :D All 3 pages are useful now, but defense is still not as beneficial as the other two... Masteries come down to item build and runes IMO, they should compliment a build and fix the weaknesses in the build. You also may have to move some points around depending on what summoner spells you're getting.(If you need Summoners Wrath, Summoners Insight, or Summoners Resolve... Take a point from Mental Force, Swiftness, or Hardiness)

Offense---------You build nothing but damaging items, you think "Build RoA" means "Build Rabadons over All". Since the game began, you've been looking at offense and telling yourself "It's only a matter of time, my love". Well guess what?It actually benefits bursting casters now! Rejoice!!!Offense gives you alot more damage output all game, with little to no utility. If you find that you need alot more damage during your games, or just like one hitting Master yi's, this is definitely the build for you.

Utility---------You often times find yourself out of mana, and although you deal alot more damage, you seem to always be out of mana, outleveled, or just unable to cast anything.Utility is what I use myself. Although there's extra damage output to be found in offense, I never found it as useful as the effects of utility. Having more access to summoner spells is too good for me to give up!

Runes

I'm going to offer to you what I think would be decent runes to grab and then grade them. Personally I recommend grabbing 9 of the rune you like, stacking one thing is better then building a bunch of small things. However build them to your liking, it's your rune page not mine.

Magic Pen is the ideal choice for any caster, and is strongly recommended because most of the other red runes are not very caster friendly. Definitely grab 9 of these. 8.55 extra Magic Pen

Cooldown will help you a lot as any champ. It's not that strong, but it's worth a look. 2.61% cooldown reduction.

Allows you to use your spells constantly in the early game, and keep up your casting in the late game. (Although, you should have blue buff... Why don't you?). 3.69 mana regen

Static health will help you quite a bit early game. Makes staying in your lane easy, and allows you to farm easier. Don't be over aggressive though, its a lot of HP but it doesn't make you invulnerable. 48.15 extra HP

Mana regen over time should keep you in your lane long enough to get a catalyst, and in the teamfight late game. I believe mana regen to be more useful early game, but if you prefer a straight AP build with hardly any mana regen, this would work well for you.11 mana regen at level 18

This is what I have as my Glyph AP per level is great for end game, especially with Anivia's AP ratio's. 1.53 AP per level 27.54 at 18

This is another amazing alternative, as I said before cooldown will help you regardless of what champ you pick. 5.85% cooldown reduction.

Quintessence's As far as how quints go, you can use pretty much everything and it will benefit you. I recommend grabbing or

is my personal choice, building tanky early on means needing more damage.

Items

Alright! Now that we got pregame stuff taken care of, lets talk about in game item buying. Item building is touchy however, using the same item build for every situation is sloppy and a very bad thing new players seem to repeat. This is my common item build, but you can tweak it however you like for whatever situation you may be in. I use this thing for solo laning and partner laning, and i use it quite often. These items are in no particular order, and can be bought at different times (I recommend getting the first 3 items before everything else though.

Offensive build Example or - , OR If the enemy team completely neglects you over other champions, getting a build like this is efficient. The last 3 items are items that are very situational and can be replaced if your enemies decide to switch to you as their primary target. Void staff if the enemy is getting plenty of Magic Resist / you have multiple casters, Abyssal if they're not / you're the only one.

Defensive build Example During teamfights if you find yourself being targeted this build works well to deal with it. Your damage output will be lower but keeping yourself alive is far more important. Getting an Athena's instead of an Archangel helps with Cooldown reduction, Damage output, Mana regen, and Magic defense. So it's a great jack of all trades item. If you still are getting hurt a bit, invest in a Banshee's.

These two builds are just examples, more then likely you will not be able to finish these items before the game ends but these builds are ones I use often... And remember, all builds are situational. Sticking to the same thing over and over again will not win you games, learn to adapt!

I start with and grabbing 2 s. The reason for this is because you want to grab a ASAP. It allows you to stay in your lane longer meaning more XP and more gold farming. It costs 925 gold to grab after the sapphire crystal, so try to stay for about that long. After grabbing a , either go for or [item_icon=Chalice of Harmony] depending on what you need more. I typically get first but that's because the extra health regen after leveling will keep you in lane much longer. After you get one of those items, get the other. Then you should focus on finishing your boots (the boots you should get depends entirely on enemy team comp, if 3 out of 5 champs have a reliable CC move then you'll want ).

You can rush a RoA if you want to, but getting a tear, chalice or boots earlier may be the better choice.

The first couple of items in my build are items I strongly recommend getting. However as I said earlier each game is not the same. Change the boots you get or the order you get your items in if its the best thing to do. Hopefully you are able to finish your first 3 items before the 20 minute mark. Start focusing on grabbing the Golem buff every time it becomes available, and you won't need to worry about mana or cooldowns.

The items below are the great ending items to get, but don't limit it just to this list. Your last 2 items should add to what you already got, and never be important must get items. You're not even sure you will make it this far into the game.

VS

There's a big debate surrounding which of these is more useful... Hopefully I can help you decide which one you like more by reading this.Athene's unholy grail's unique passive is that it "Increases your mana regeneration by 1% per 1%mana you are missing." What does this mean? Well, if you have 6mp5 and 0% mana, you will get a 100% boost to the regen, so you will instead of 12mp5 instead of 6mp5. Although this is good, this is only half of the reason that we are getting it. The magic resist, the cooldown reduction, the extra mana on champ kills, and the ability power are also huge beneficiaries... So of course this item is better than Archangel's staff, an item that only affects mana, mana regen, and ability power... Right?Well lets look at Archangel's staff at max level and all items complete. Assuming you got the offensive core build and Archangel's is maxed, you would have 3336 mana in your pool. 3% of that is... 100 extra ap! This item gives a whopping 145ap! However... In order to get that amount, you will need to be in the late game phase. Athene's grants all of its bonus's right away, but with Archangel's you have to wait. Although it costs roughly 100 more gold, its more valuable assuming you're in middle lane.Archangel's = More Offensive late gameAthene's = More Offensive early game (and more defensive all game)If you had to pick one, i'd go for Athene's.Then again... You could always just get both, and reap the rewards of both at the cost of another item. If you are going to get them both, i'd recommend getting a first, just to help build those stacks.

- This is good, if you're getting kills and not dying... The item heavily relies on having a tank that can keep carries away from you, because end game you will be focused down quite often. I never get this, the AP tends to lure people in and never has a great payout. Snowballing has been nerfed awhile ago, please don't use items like this anymore.

- This is a very late game item for Anivia. Why get Lich bane though? Throwing Flash frost and blowing it up will both proc lich bane, and considering I auto attack in between casts, it can cause an extra 800 damage easy. Not to mention the movement speed is also very nice. I used to get this often, but getting a defensive item last is probably the better choice. Something like or...

- ... Do I really gotta say anything else? Okay okay i will. If the enemy team is bogging you down with targeted abilities I'd recommend grabbing this. Its mana, hp, and magic resist too. The primary defensive item on most casters, including Anivia.

- This is worth getting pretty much always. It not only gives you +3% of your mana in AP, but gives you +4 mana per spell cast (to a max of 1000). Don't forget about the stats it already gives too! One of my favorites to get on Anivia, solves all mana problems.

- Lets you stay in the fight longer, but other then that it really doesn't serve a purpose. I personally don't like it, however alot of Anivia players will get it. Why not just buy an HP item so you're harder to kill in egg form? That's what I say at least...

- I have never really gotten this, but it could work well if more then half of the enemy team is stacking magic res. If they are it might be better to grab this earlier than most items instead.

- 30% more AP with a bonus of 155 added? I can guarantee you that you will get this nearly every game. I typically get it around after my archangels, but if it is more important to be defensive then I may disregard this until later in the game. Definitely get this at one point though.

- This creates a shield which makes you untargetable. The problem is that you cannot use spells or even move whilst the shield is up. The shield helps a lot, especially if you're targeted often... I often get this when the enemy team is full of AD champions, or against champions that can lock you down without stunning you (Snares or heavy slows).

- The aura stacks with the 50 AP you get passively from this so you will have 80 AP and 25% Spell vamp. The stats are great and if your team is caster based this may be an item you want to grab early. Definitely worth taking

- This is a viable last item, I would never grab this before then. Although this gives AP and CDR, and has a great passive, other items will help you more. The ability is really good as long as your opponents are stacking health and not Magic Resist. Get this as a last item only

- This is probably the most neglected item I have ever seen, and I honestly have no idea why. Lets say your opponents have champs like Malzahar or Warwick, this item will let you break their ults. I have recently been grabbing this every time I am up against a champion that can easily stun you for 3+ seconds. I would definitely recommend this if you are the only caster on your team.

- Buy this whenever you have excess gold you need to burn off (150 gold or 225). Map awareness wins games people! Unfortunately late game it may be difficult to purchase these considering your items will be full, but until then buy them like crazy.

Summoner Abilities

Since they changed summoner spells quite a bit, it's more difficult to decide on spells. Although every spell has its up's and down's, I'm gonna try and show you the best choices for Anivia. Remember, adjust depending on your playstyle and your team!(If possible, try to pick summoner spells that fall into the same mastery. For example, if you're getting ignite over teleport consider getting ghost instead of flash.)

My Choices- Teleport Teleport is amazing with Anivia. Teleport is a transportation skill, and Anivia is one of the slowest in the game. Don't limit this things uses to getting from fountain to your lane, or to defend towers though. Its amazing for setting up ganks, especially if you throw down wards often. If a teamfight is starting and there's a minion standing around, teleport to it and instantly grab 2 kills. Yeah it's good... This is a pick of mine.

Flash Flash is the perfect summoner spell for Anivia. Shes slow so it allows her to escape from group fights. Lets you pop in for ganks. If you're out of range for a kill even the slightest bit it lets you get in range to Crystallize. There's so many uses for this thing its unbelievable. I highly recommend it and it is the other skill I grab.

Spells you could get-

Ignite**** Great for finishing off enemies early game or preventing things from healing. However end game your damage output should be amazing and this is just overkill. Steer clear of the mastery for this too. Summoner spells should rarely be on cooldown unless its something like teleport or flash. Grab this if you like first blood or early ganks, but keep in mind that early ganks will help you, but will definitely not win you the game. Excellent to grab if you prefer rushing .

Ghost*** I've seen many Anivia's grab this for escaping from stuff or getting places quicker. Personally I've never seen a great use for it. It lets you catch up to enemies but if somebody is out of flash range you should not even be chasing anyways. You can travel quickly back to your lane, but teleport is better with that. Its great for ganking but flash is just better in all ways when it comes to ganks. Lower cooldown, and instant distance. Ignore ghost, but grab it if you like the skill or already have flash and want more distance.

Clarity**** or ** I've changed my stance on clarity. I still believe it's completely useless end game. However it helps big time when you're laning solo in a 2v1. If you really need something to keep you in the lane then you aren't using or grabbing Golem Buff ever. I don't get it still, but the choice is yours.

Surge*** I an see the potential with surge, but you should need more utility than damage when it comes to summoner spells. The extra damage is very nice for those close games though.

Spells you should never get-

Promote**Anivia isn't very good at pushing turrets, which is why promote would help... But you should never give up a summoner spell for it. Avoid it

Exhaust** Exhaust is very useful in many ways. I have never found a use for Anivia however. Exhaust is used as a slow/cripple, and it's a waste in this case because you can easily slow most enemies, or just block them off entirely. It barely helps early game and late game it is no different. I've never gotten it and I don't think that you should either.

Heal* Health is always good to have, but you're going to be too far from your allies for it to benefit them much. I'd pick something else.

Revive* I don't even wanna bother with this. Grab summoner spells that keep you from dying rather than ones that keep you alive.

Smite* You should never have a problem with creeping, the only time you should ever even creep is when you kill the life-steal minions with one Flash frost from the middle lane. Farming will get better as time goes on too, don't grab smite and waste a spot for a summoner spell.

Cleanse** It helps, but as a caster you shouldn't really have a problem with being stunned (unless you're really being targeted). Avoiding the front lines is crucial and if you use this often you should probably fix that part of your gameplay. Get a banshee's or a Quicksilver if you need some help negating the stuns.

Clairvoyance* Your wall is a close range clairvoyance, you really shouldn't ever need this. Wards for dragon/baron/golem cost 75g instead of wasting a summoner spell spot. This skill is great, don't get me wrong. But I see no use for it on Anivia.

Laning / Farming Tips

You should notice after your first auto attack that your attacks are quite slow to get to their targets. It makes it hard to farm early game and could lead to your downfall end game (no farming = horrid late game items). Here's just some general tips that should help you during the laning phase. These work for both Solo lanes and Side lanes.

-Communicate as much as possible. Create plans and coordinate kills.

-Stay in enemy caster minion range so that when it is best to last hit, you aren't scrambling to get in range.

-Flash frost does damage as it passes through things too, try to set it up to last hit as much of the enemy's minions as you can.

-Just because you have your egg off cooldown doesn't mean you never have to back until it's been popped. If you're low on health then head back.

-Hitting champs causes enemy minions to target you. It's not worth taking the all that damage until you are about level 6 or so.

-Crystallize grants you vision, if you're unsure where somebody is check bushes with it. If you're in the middle lane and top is mia, check the top bush. If you're in the middle lane and bot is mia, check the bot bush.

-You have amazing staying power, but you won't be staying long if you have no mana. Try to keep it at about half at all times (unless you're going in for the kill, of course).

-If you're in the middle lane, flash frosting the wraiths and detonating it in the middle will get you some bonus XP and gold. (Don't do this if you have a jungler...)

-One flash frost can kill all caster minions at level 7 (or 5 if you're farming like a god). However this will cause your minions to push, which will leave you more open to gank.

-If you must leave your lane wait until the next minion wave, when all the minions meet in the middle kill them with Flash Frost and Glacial Storm. This way. enemy champions cannot attack your tower without taking damage, and by the time the next wave meets you should be halfway there (or there already).

These are just simple tips, I may add more in the future but right now I'm gearing them towards new players. Some stuff might be obvious, but there are those that may look over it.

Ganking Tips

Anivia may be slow, but if you have your ult the enemies will be slower. If you grabbed a Mejai's early then ganking will be an important part of your game. (Still don't recommend Mejai's...)

-Champions with escaping abilities (such as Shaco or Kayle) should be dealt with after champions without them. Don't burn your cooldown's on champions that can disappear in the blink of an eye or just shrug off your attacks.

-Cut off your enemies escape route. Come in from behind whilst your allies come from the front, cornering champs guarantee's a kill in most cases.

-If you solo lane try to gank before your enemies get to level 6. You have an enormous advantage having one more skill then your enemy does.

-If possible use flash frost in the beginning of the fight for a quick stun. It may be hard to skillshot as your opponents are fleeing, but when used with Crystallize it should be an easier hit (forcing them to go one direction so they can't juke it).

-Keep track of what champ is using what summoner abilities and plan ahead for it.

-Auto attacking adds small bits of damage, but don't let your enemies get too far out of range because of it. Keep moving and stay in range.

-You can ult whilst on the move, try slowing them to catch up.

-Always throw your Flash frost ahead of your opponent. Even if they have to stop to avoid getting hit, it will still give you time to get the kill.

-If you have teleport, use it to gank instead of get back to your lane (unless it's urgent). Use it on a friendly ward or minion just as a teamfight starts.

Keep in mind that while your out ganking your lane is vulnerable. Ganking requires patience but sitting around for too long may cause your lanes tower to fall. Gank as much as possible in the least amount of time possible. I recommend ganking only when your opponents health is low, or they are being very aggressive.

Teamfight Tips

By the time team fighting starts, hopefully you have acquired your RoA and Boots. You will definitely have an advantage if you have these items.

-Before the fight starts harass with your Flash Frost, but keep your mana at roughly 70%. Don't run in too close against champions like Taric or Sion (especially if they have flash).

-Try to stay in the back of the group when the fight starts, but not too far away so you can attempt to block off any escaping enemies. Being in the perfect position is essential.

-Crystallizing in the middle of enemies is a great way to separate them and allow you to pick them off easily and quickly. Just keep your allies in mind when doing this, you want your melee's to get to their carries.

-Glacial storm is an AoE that stays in one spot. Try to determine the best place to put it and try to use it at the beginning of the teamfight. This will increase your damage output significantly.

-Flash frost is a great stun, but remember the damage applies as its passing through champs as well. Try to target as many champs as possible but mainly focus on stunning enemy carries.

-Use Flash frost on champs that are stuck in your glacial storm, followed by a frostbite. Its the most common Anivia combo but it works very well.

-Target one champion at a time. At the beginning of the fight mark the enemy you will be targeting. Priorities are mostly ranged champions, and casters. They are the squishy ones of the group and will hopefully be downed in one spell rotation.

-DO NOT TARGET THE ENEMY TANK. I stress this the most because you should not be wasting your spells on killing their tank. Tanks are pretty weak without their glass cannons, target them.

-Isolating champions with crystallize is great in teamfights, especially melee champions. But separating champions could also allow them to escape, be sure to only use this tactic if the champions you are separating are still healthy.

-If an enemy is escaping and is not within range of your Crystallize, he is probably not worth chasing. Don't continue following an enemy that has already escaped.

If things start heading downward try to at least save one ally. Defending a tower alone as Anivia can be done in certain situations, but having an extra man with you is definitely more intimidating then them having one less. And remember that most things should be done as a team at this point.

Buffs!

I added this section because I've noticed a lot of Anivia players neglecting their good buddy, the Golem. Getting Golem should take no more then 15 seconds or so... Basically every chance you get to grab Golem, do it. But why is the buff so good?

-The mana regen is great, and I can assure you that you will never be low on mana with this buff.

-Cooldown reduction is good for anybody, but with Anivia's AP ratios & Damage output, it's definitely worth the 15 seconds it takes to kill it.

-If you're not grabbing Golem, then who is? The enemy perhaps? There's absolutely no harm done in taking Golem (unless you ditch your lane...) so just do it!

-Jungle champions tend to grab Golem as well, so wait until level 11 or so to grab Golem when a Jungler is present.

Level 9 (if you're farming nice) or level 11 (if you're a little slow on the farming) is when you should jump on Golem. Do the double damage Q as much as you possibly can and follow up with a frostbite. Using your ult and frostbiting then shutting off your ult is also a good thing to do if flash frost is still on CD. Don't worry about burning all your mana to kill him, the Golem's buff will take care of that.

Solo'ing a side lane - Tips

Solo'ing a side lane is basically a 2v1 in the side lane, where you are the 1 against 2. Most the time you're better suited in the middle because of your low movement speed, but Anivia is capable of doing it. It demands a very defensive play style but being too defensive could lead to you being denied XP. Here's some tips to help you survive this terrible situation.

-Instead of getting a , get a . Then work on your original build, the mana regen and health will definitely help you more.

-If you are in this lane then you MUST level Q before everything else. Also consider getting W at level 2 instead of 4, as an emergency measure.

-Health Quints will benefit you more than any other Quint in this situation, I would recommend getting them.

-If you weren't being denied properly, by the 12 minute mark you will be a big threat to your opponents. Don't get cocky though, force one champ to retreat so you can kill the other champion.

-Buying a 75g ward could save you over getting that 3k . Invest in a ward or 2 after your first recall and put it in the river bush.

- is a great summoner spell in this situation, and I may ditch to get it. It lets you spam Q more often so you aren't getting denied as hard, and helps you to last hit more often as well.

-Staying in the bushes is a good idea, but don't get comfortable. You won't be able to stay forever.

-If your jungler is competent he should be ganking often for you, keep an eye out for him so you know when to move in.

Solo'ing a side lane is pretty hard to do, I personally hate it with a passion but I will do it if asked... Will add more tips if requested, these are just things I thought up on the top of my head.

What is denying?

Some people have asked "What is denying, this isn't DotA". If 2 strong laning champions are able to keep back 1 solo lane champion, he/she will be unable to get XP and gold from minions whilst the other are free to farm as much as they want. Anivia is great at countering this because of the ridiculous range and damage of her Q. But other champions are unable to counter this, and end up losing out on that solo advantage.

Example- If enemy champions are standing between you and your minions, forcing you to stay at your turret when the minions are in the middle of the lane, those champions are denying you.

Summary

Anivia is an amazing damage dealer with very low cooldown's and amazing escape tactics. She is underplayed, despite her abilities and power. She's hard to play, but in the end you will be playing one of the greatest AP champion's in the game. Hopefully after playing her a bit, you will realize she is one of the greatest AP carries in the game.

Having read this guide, you should understand how Anivia works a bit more. I hope you guys learned a lot from this guide and I look forward to thwomping you in some of my games >:P

Questions / Comments

Also, if you notice anything wrong with my FAQ please message me. Any feedback will not be ignored. Whether its negative or positive.

I don't play Anivia as often as I used to. Whilst she still is my favorite champ, I am a fan of variety and have been playing other casters (Don't tell Anivia though, I dun want her to know I'm cheating on her ;x). I don't have "over 700 wins" with Anivia, in fact I probably only skimmed the 200 mark. Don't bash me saying I ain't good because of this, it's more annoying than aggravating seeing people judge by wins in a team based game.